WASHINGTON (TNND) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking protection from a court for a surrogate and an unborn baby with a heart defect to ensure the child receives life-saving medical treatment after birth, despite the intended parents’ objection.
According to a letter Paxton’s office sent to two hospitals in Dallas on Monday, the unborn baby was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which is a congenital condition where the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped and unable to properly pump blood throughout the body, The Hill reported.
The intended parents of the unborn child, who Paxton’s office referred to as “baby Gabriel,” live in California and have demanded the surrogate terminate the pregnancy, according to Paxton. The surrogate refused to get an abortion and traveled to Texas to seek protection and access to doctors with experience treating the condition.
“Baby Gabriel deserves a chance at life, and I will not allow anyone to unlawfully deny him medically necessary care,” the Republican attorney general said in a statement posted on Instagram. “My office will use every tool available to protect innocent lives and ensure that every child receives the care required under Texas law.”
Abortion is illegal in Texas except in cases where the life or health of the patient is at risk.
Paxton’s office said baby Gabriel received the diagnosis at 20 weeks and is expected to be born “imminently with a serious but treatable heart condition.”
According to the letter, baby Gabriel’s doctors recommended the Norwood procedure, which is the first of the three after-birth surgeries that are the standard treatment for his heart condition.
Paxton’s office also said that “the intended parents have stated they will refuse consent to that operation, and that they may seek to move the child to California so that treatment can be withheld there.”
The letter noted that there is one parental dispute case concerning baby Gabriel in California and another in Texas.
Paxton told the hospitals in the letter that he has asked the 301st Judicial District Court in Dallas County to issue orders providing for baby Gabriel’s medical care after he is born and preventing his potential removal from Texas.